The return of the forgotten
by Pig for slaughter
Summary: A story with a major twist from the general warcraft lore, so much that it doesn't even fit in it anymore. A story of the return of an entity, that has been long forgotten, even though it has done so much. A story of impending doom upon Azeroth.
1. Prologue

**Authors note*  
><strong>Only certain points of the whole lore have and will be used in this story and even those are modified and changed to the extent that it can no longer be placed back into the chain that is the lore of warcraft up until the present day.

If talking specifically - First of all The Great Sundering never happened, and the demon soul was not finished. Deathwing was defeated and sealed, the early continent of Kalimdor was not shattered, not only did the united forces of Azeroth's inhabitants were able to push back the forces of the Burning Legion, but they also managed to seal off the Well of Eternity, keeping it safe from further use by the highborn or anyone for that matter.

A map of the continent in this story will be submitted in the future and will probably be frequently updated with new territories shown on it. Such a decision has been made because there is no globally acknowledged map of early Kalimdor, which existed before the great sundering.

**Prologue**

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><p><strong>A sudden conclusion<strong>

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><p>The day was nearing it's end as was the battle nearing it's end. The battlefield was littered with the dead, the result of a whole day of fighting and the victor was already obvious. In the middle of the conflict two figures were clashing with each other, leaving a large empty circle around them, with the troops fighting around them, instinctively avoiding to enter the empty circle, which was filled with the fury of the two.<p>

As we look closely at the two clashing figures we notice that both of them were wearing heavy armor, armored from head to toe. Now examining them one at a time we notice, that one of the fighters was a tall figure, with dark plate armor and a large two-hand longsword. His helm was made to look like a skull that wore a strong similarity to a human one, except it had long horns, and covered up his head, including the face. With each swing of the figures sword, the very ground between his feet shattered, scarring the earth with such brute force.

Now as for the other figure - he wasn't as tall as his opponent, but was also armored with heavy armor, only it's color was brighter, bright red to be precise. The figures helm, not like his opponents, didn't cover his face and we could already say that he was a human, with brown eyes, a serious looking face and a few scars on it. The human wielded a large two-edged axe, and swung it fiercely, but not as powerfully as his opponent, since regrettably…the land did not shatter beneath his feet (too bad). The two of them clashed so for moments, swinging their heavy weapons at each other, evading and clashing with no visible end in sight.

„We shall never falter! We will fight and if need be - even crawl until we defeat you and your wretched army" - The human shouted, as he swung his axe with fierce determination, aiming to slice his opponent in two.

The dark armor wearing figure dodged the threatening swing and counter-attacked, cutting the humans' side, slicing through his heavy armor like butter and inflicting a deep wound. After being injured so, the human fell to his knee, grabbing his sudden wound and trying to get up with the help of his weapon.

„No.." - he whispered - „It cannot end here... I will not loose" - he kept saying, while trying to get up, but miserably failing, with the wound being in the way.

The person responsible for such an injury then placed his swords tip above his pray, preparing for the finishing strike.

„This is the end" - he then said - „You should have just accepted your fate Argeon" - and after saying those words he plunged his sword into the shriveling body of his enemy, stabbing him and finishing Argeon off in a second.

Once the dark figure was finished with his opponent, he then turned towards the battle, which was nearing it's conclusion. The human resistance, even with it's elven allies was not able to win in this decisive battle, as the horde of the dead and the living slaughtered the remainder of them.

As the dark figure was about to join the battle, with his sword ready to feast on enemy flesh, something jumped out of the mass that was moving towards it's remaining foes and knelt in front of him. It was a dark troll and a really tall one at that even comparing him to his own kind.

„Congratulations in finishing off their leader master Sitrim" - the troll said - „We be done with the rest of them in a few moments".

The dark figure, identified as Sitrim looked at the troll for a while and sheathed his weapon, in a scabbard that was hanging on his back.

„Prepare the bodies as usual once the battle has ended" - Sitrim then said and looked at the remaining enemy forces, which were slowly being crushed by his army of undead and troll. The enemy forces were fighting bravely, with humans and some high elven mages defending their positions with all their might.

„Soon, all life will be crushed between my fingers" - Sitrim said under his breath, while watching his forces slowly dominate the battlefield.

As the enemy forces were about to come to terms with their coming death, an unexpected development took place. The sky started raining fire, with it smashing into Sitrim's army, burning many to ashes. The rain of fire stopped as suddenly as it begun and after a few moments the ones responsible for the sudden attack landed – beasts of fire and fury, the red dragons. As many of them landed amongst the undead and troll army, smashing and burning all that they could reach, one of the bigger dragons landed in front of Sitrim, with it's gaze set on the dark master.

„You are a danger to the world and the life within it Sitrim and your actions can no longer be overlooked. You are to be imprisoned for life, as to prevent your dark plans to be carried out." - The dragon announced and without waiting for a reply, breathed fire at him.

Sitrim quickly took out his sword and prepared for the incoming attack, but for his surprise the fire did not attack him directly, instead it surrounded him and slowly rose up, threatening to completely cut him off from the rest of the world. He then started to sliced the wall of fire in front of him, easily piercing it's bright skin, but again, for his surprise the hole made after the attack quickly closed up. Sitrim continued to do so for a while, but with no positive results.

„Alexstrasza!What is this sorcery?" - He shouted.

„You should be honored, this spell was created specifically for you as there is no way for you to escape it, you can only embrace it" - The dragon replied.

As the fires finally surrounded Sitrim from all sides, it started shaping into a rectangle, with blunt corners. As the shaping was complete, the fire evaporated and what was left behind was a coffin made out of dark metal, with the dark master trapped inside, forever in darkness.

As soon as Sitrim was imprisoned, most of his army of the dead fell to the ground, with only a few remaining standing - probably highly ranked officers and fighters. Along side the few remaining undead, the dark trolls stood, but as they saw their master imprisoned and could not withstand the might of the dragons, most of them scattered to all sides, with only a few dedicated souls remaining. The remaining few forces charged towards their masters coffin, dedicated to him, they thought they could save their master, but for naught, as they were consumed by the dragon fires, turning to ash all who got in it's way. As the fight was over the dragons flew off into the sky, with only their dragon queen remaining.

„I'm sorry it turned out this way Sitrim" - Alexstrasza then said while looking at the new-made coffin. She slowly grabbed it with her large claws and after a short pause lifted off, following her brethren.

The battlefield itself was left scorched and abandoned with only the human and elven survivors, who still could not believe their luck, as their enemies were suddenly defeated and they were left victorious (or so to speak).


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

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><p><strong>The beginning of the end<strong>

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><p>The dark chamber stood in complete silence, only to be interrupted by occasional sounds of dripping water. As the chamber was covered in pitch black darkness you couldn't distinguish any specific characteristics, only the general ones – the room was extremely large. It was spacious and had a really high ceiling - supported by wide pillars. Presumably the chamber remained so for decades and would have remained so for a similar duration, but not today.<p>

A faint light could be seen approaching from one end of the chamber – a narrow tunnel, which was connected to it. As the light came closer and got brighter, sounds of voices and footsteps could be heard.

As the responsible for such intrusions entered the chamber, we could already distinguish specific features and the number of them(obviously). The unexpected and probably unwelcome guests were numbering in three – a tall troll, a short(duh!) dwarf and a female human. The troll was armed to the teeth with a curved sword(which curved to the opposite direction then normally) hanging from his belt on the right and a quiver of strangely short spears on his back (since they were too thick to be considered as arrows). The troll had distinctive features as a one of his race – a mohawk for a hair-do (well I guess that's normal), dark purple skin, with random markings on his arms and he did not seem like one of the friendly types (figures). He was wearing black leather, which covered most of his body with only his hands and parts of his legs free from it's dark clutches, which made an interesting view.

The dwarf on the other hand was a complete opposite, firstly - he was short. He wore a hat and light clothes, which gave off a refined and „rich" atmosphere. The dwarf had a paper scroll in his right hand (looks like a map) and his belt was littered with various tools (little picks, brushes and such).

Meanwhile the human female – she was a mage, or at least was skilled in those arts, since she was responsible for the bright light, or to be precise, for the fire that floated above her palm. The fire was lifted high and held in front of the trio, so that they could see further in front. The female had long raven hair resting on her shoulders and had a serious – even dark expression on her face (but she could still be considered beautiful of course). She wore dark robes with no markings or distinguishable features, you could even say they looked plain.

„The treasure should be at the end of this chamber. It better be worth the trouble I went through to get this map"– The dwarf mumbled as the three went deeper into the huge chamber.

His companions remained silent and they continued onward.

As the light from the mages (let's just stick with that) conjured fire illuminated the chamber, the three noticed something interesting. The whole floor was littered with various bones of the deceased, most of who were armed as there were a lot of weapon and armor parts (well what's left of them anyway). It looked like all of it was there for a while, since the gear was rusted through and not much remained of them – similar could be said about the dead. The three also noticed that the ground was burned in various places and that the huge pillars, which were placed in a neat order, leaving an obvious path towards the other end of the chamber, were all scarred and covered in strange drawings and runes.

„You think the warnings given by the witch were true?" - The female asked, as she checked the markings on one of the pillars.

„Bah! There's nothing to be scared of, whatever was guarding this place died off a long time ago. Those were just delusional snivelings of a dying old hag – The dwarf replied – Now let's continue further, I can almost smell the money I'll be making out of this place.

And thus the two went towards the other end of the chamber, stepping over the remains of the long forgotten. The troll on the other hand took a little longer as he investigated the pillars and the dead on the floor, only to pick up a skull that looked surprisingly similar to that of his own kind. He then dropped it to the ground and got up, walking towards his companions with a grin on his face.

As the three continued towards the end of the chamber, swimming through the endless sea of the dead, they reached their destination – a huge door with a small hole in the middle of it. The door itself was littered with drawings, skulls being the most distinguishable one. But the most visible one was a huge drawing of what seemed like a throne, with a dark figure sitting in it. None of the figures characteristics could be picked out, except a big crown on his head and red shining rubies in place of his eyes. The drawing was right in the middle of the door, taking up most of it's space. By the door two noticeable remains lied, which caught the attention of the guests.

The remains were big and I mean BIG, almost twenty times larger then our three companions. The broken down remains were winged and had a long skull with large fangs.

„Dragons" - The female spoke.

„And by the looks of it – red dragons" - the Dwarf spoke, while lifting a red dragon scale - „Now I want to enter the treasure chamber even more"

The three then approached the huge door. Or two to be precise, since the troll stood in front of it from the very beginning, examining the drawings on it.

„I can feel magic coming from behind the door" - The human spoke - „And it feels quite hostile"

„I didn't pay you to complain, now shut up and let me through. It's time to claim my payment" - The dwarf said and took out a strange object.

The object almost looked like a knife, since it was shaped as one, but it was too thick and didn't look sharp at all (unless it was poorly taken care of). The knife seemed to be made out of bone with skull ornaments carved on it's handle. The rude dwarf then inserted the strange knife in the key-hole – that was in the middle of the door and turned, stepping back and waiting for what's to come next.

After the „key" was inserted, the drawings on the door lit up in red and after a while it slowly opened up with dark, thick mist coming from the widening gap. As the door completely opened and the light invaded it's dark chambers, the three could finally peek at it's content. The room was quite small, comparing to the previous one. The only visible structure in it was a pedestal, marked with odd drawings and writings. On it lied a large object. As the intruders looked around the rest of the room, they noticed that the walls were also littered with drawings, accompanied by the same runes they saw in the previous room.

The chamber itself was filled with all kinds of junk – books, strange contraptions, clothes, weapons and even armor. In one of the corners stood a mannequin with an impressive looking set of armor on it, which caught the eye of the greedy dwarf. The armor was surprisingly well made, with black plate shoulders, shaped to look like claws and a helm that was shaped like a human skull – more or less, since it's shape was a bit different and it had horns. But what captured his eyes the most was the emblem on the front plates of the armor – the emblem itself did not look familiar, but it looked like the head of a horned beast.

„Bah! That's it? There's no treasure here, only junk" - the dwarf shouted and turned to the pedestal with the strange looking object on it, slowly approaching it - „There better be something valuable in there."

The dwarf was stopped from his advance before he could reach his new-found destination by the female human.

„Boglar, stop! The pedestal is protected by strong magic, let me investigate first" - She said and approached the pedestal.

„Make it quick Myriam" - The dwarf mumbled, angrily looking at her.

The female lifted her free arm and closed her eyes, concentrating and standing still for a few moments. After that Myriam suddenly opened her eyes and quickly moved her arm to the side, like she was ripping something open.

„Correction – previously strong magic. It's so old that only a shadow of it's former power remains. It was easy to dispel." - the female then explained.

Boglar then approached the pedestal and started examining it. The object was long and made out of dark metal-like material, at one end a face was shaped out and the whole object was covered in unfamiliar runes.

„It seems to be some sort of a sarcophagus" - he said, while walking around the object - „and by the looks of it, this whole place is a tomb. The treasures of the buried should be in the sarcophagus, or it usually is." - he said.

„Let's get back to the camp, we'll need more people to carry all this stuff." - The dwarf then said and turned towards the entrance.

„I be stayin' here just in case" - The silent troll then replied, while looking at the object which was identified as a sarcophagus.

Boglar turned to the troll.

„This is probably the first time I heard you mutter a word Zal'jin. I liked you better when you were silent. Very well, you can remain here just don't even think of stealing anything." - The dwarf then said and left the room with the female accompanying him.

After the two left, Zal'jin slowly approached the coffin and placed his hand on it.

„Finally, I be findin' you, **master**" - He whispered.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p><strong>The awakening<strong>

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><p>The camp was bursting with activity, as numerous workers were busy carrying and organizing the items brought from the nearby ruins. But our three companions were busy with only one item – the sarcophagus. It was brought to one of the many tents and placed right in the middle of it, with workers trying to open it up, while Boglar was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.<p>

„Hurry it up, or I'll cut your pay in half!" - Boglar shouted at the workers, who were having a rough time as is.

„We're sorry, but it seems that the sarcophagus was solidly closed and it will take a while to break it open ,considering it's made out of sturdy material, which we're not familiar with." - one of the workers replied.

„Hmph" - was the only sound Boglar let out.

Zal'jin was sitting on the ground not far, watching as the sarcophagus was about to be opened with a sharp look. He did not leave it's side not for a second, even when it was carried out of the chamber, he followed like a dog, who found something of worth protecting. The mage was also present in the tent, but was preoccupied with some books found in the ruins, as she was slowly turning one page after another with a worried look on her face.

„What seems to be the problem? Not satisfied with your find bookworm?" - Boglar noticed Myriam's look.

Myriam turned her sights away from the books for a while and turned to the rude dwarf.

„I do not recognize the writings on this book at all. It's something I've never seen before, but does have a few similarities to human writing" - she then said.

„Well then they're really old, let's hope the explorers league will pay me a pretty penny for them" - Boglar then replied and turned back at the sarcophagus, since it seemed like the workers were almost done in opening it up.

As the sarcophagus slowly opened up (since it was damn heavy), Myriam suddenly stood up with surprise and fear written all over her face. Once the lid was taken off, dark mist poured out from within, enshrouding the ground and evaporating not long after that. For everyones surprise the inside of the sarcophagus was pitch black, like a bottomless pit with only mist visible on the surface.

„Call all the present mages here, I'll need some help with this" - Myriam said, while approaching the sarcophagus and starting to draw runes at the point where the dark mist evaporated.

„What the heck is this anyway?" - The dwarf said and was about to reach inside the darkness, only to be stopped by Myriam.

„Wait! If you reach inside it you'll probably loose your arm" - She explained. - „As far as I can tell, the inside of the sarcophagus has been sealed, and it's like a totally different dimension in there, if we don't fix this soon it could cause distortions all over the place".

Boglar quickly stepped back after hearing those words, glaring at the object in question with an unsatisfied look, while holding his arm that he could have lost.

„What could be hidden inside then? If it's so protected it should be quite valuable" - he then asked, with desperate hope in his voice.

„I'm not sure yet, we'll know after this thing is dispelled." - Myriam replied and went back to work.

While all this was going on, the troll didn't move and inch, patiently waiting for something, with his sights set on the darkness inside the sarcophagus.

The dwarf on the other hand quickly left the tent and a few mages entered it not long after, probably ordered by Boglar to do so.

„You'll have to support me, I have already drawn your circles so be seated" - Myriam ordered and the mages followed.

As everything was prepared, Myriam sat down in front of the sarcophagus, with the mages sitting in a circle around it. Every one of them closed their eyes and concentrated as the spell was in process. After half an hour you could already see that the mist could not escape the sarcophagus as far as it did before, with it being pushed back inside bit by bit. Once all the mist went back to it's source, the next stage of the ritual commenced. The mages sat there for hours, with no visible change in them or their target and it seemed like they would continue doing so for a while. Or does it? After a few moments Myriam opened her eyes and the darkness covering the inside of the sarcophagus started slowly disappearing, opening up at the middle and being pushed to the corners. In a few minutes the whole sarcophagus was free of it and the mages were free as their job was completed.

„You may leave now, call Boglar on your way out" - Myriam then said, and slowly stood up from her previous position.

Once the spell was completed, Zal'jin stood up and looked inside the sarcophagus, with a smile slowly showing on his face.

Myriam did not notice it and approached the object she worked so hard on, curious of what's hidden inside. What she saw surprised her to the point that she froze up for a few moments – the sarcophagus did not have any jewelery or any other valuables inside, what it had was a body. A body of a human clutching a dangerous looking long sword, with a red jewel in it's blade. The human had medium long black hair, almost reaching his shoulders and for her surprise he did not seem old or even decomposed, figuring he lied there for a very long time.

„The spell must have been placed here for the purpose of preserving the body" - Myriam thought out loud - „Boglar will not be happy, since I do not see any valuables for him"

After those words the mentioned dwarf entered the tent, quickly marching towards the his prize.

„Well? What treasures stay hidden inside?" - he grumbled only to stop in his tracks once he saw it's content. He slowly approached the sarcophagus without muttering out a word and looked at the body inside for a bit, directing his glare at the longsword not long after. As he noticed the red jewel inside the weapon, he instinctively reached his hand towards it, but for his surprise, was unexpectedly stopped in an unpleasant manner.

Once Zal'jin noticed Boglars actions, he quickly took out a spear from his quiver and threw it at the rude dwarf, piercing his chest and watching as his target fell lifeless to the ground – with surprise in his eyes. Myriam looked at what just happened and then turned to Zal'jin.

„What have you done? Now we're definitely not getting payed!" - She shouted with dissatisfaction.

„No-one touches the masters sword" - Zal'jin replied and approached the dead dwarf, pulling out his spear from Boglars chest.

„Master? What are you talking about?" - Myriam replied - „How can you serve a dead body in the first place? And how do you even know him?" - she bombarded Zal'jin with questions.

After hearing them Zal'jin grinned.

„The master be awake soon." - He whispered.

After hearing those words Myriam looked at Zal'jin like he was crazy and turned to the body in question. After studying it for a while she then went back to reality and turned to the dead dwarf. She quickly set him on fire and burned his remains to ash, sending a wind after that and scattering even that to all sides, destroying any evidence of the previous act.

„Anyway, we need to leave the camp quickly, before they start suspecting us" - She said, and walked towards the table filled with books. - „I'll need some time to pack it all, you should also get ready" - Myriam told Zal'jin.

„I be remaining at master side" - Zal'jin replied and sat down near object, that coused all this commotion again, with his hand on his sword.

Myriam froze for a few seconds, after hearing what her companion just said.

„After all the time we worked together, this is the time you choose to do as you please? If the rest of the camp finds out what you did to Boglar, they'll all come for your head, since he was already late to pay them" - Myriam complained, clutching one of her books, with anger in her voice. -"Have you gone completely insane? You'll ruin our reputation, finding good mercenary work is hard to come by as is"

„I no longer be working as mercenary, I have found my place by the master, as it be told in my tribe." - Zal'jin replied without looking at Myriam.

„What non-sense are you spouting? You tribe died off ages ago and you still believe the crap your elders kept telling you?" - Myriam then yelled, with obvious dissatisfaction and anger in her voice, losing her composure and even swinging her arms a bit.

„They be not nonsense, they be the truth" - Zal'jin replied.

„So what? You're telling me that the body in the sarcophagus is just going to rise and show you the way?" - Myriam then asked, with a mocking tone.

Zal'jin did not reply, and for everyones surprise (including me) he did not need to.

As the two were having a heated discussion, they failed to notice something interesting. The human that was lying in the sarcophagus suddenly moved and slowly rose from within it, clutching his huge longsword in one hand and slowly stepping out of his previous „home".

As the troll noticed it, he quickly turned to him and knelt.

„My master, I be happy to see you awake after all this time" - Zal'jin said, while kneeling.

As the human rose, he looked around the inside of the tent, throwing a quick eye at the kneeling troll and then stopping at the female mage.

As the threatening human looked at Myriam, she could feel a chill going down her spine, as his cold eyes looked at her.

„Who..are you?" - She barely muttered.

After hearing those words the so called „master" turned away from Myriam and looked at the troll. He made a finger movement, ordering the troll to stand, and the troll did as he was commanded without hesitation.

„How long have I slept?" - the human asked.

„It be said that you were gone for a thousand years, master" - Zal'jin replied.

„How is my kingdom? Were your people able to defend it?" - the master asked then.

„I be sorry, master, but it be destroyed and erased from history. My people have faltered along with it, and not many of us, who still know of our true purpose remain" - The troll replied, with his head held low.

The human did not seem happy with those words, he turned away from the troll and looked around the tent looking for something, and that something he did find. His eyes were tied to the armor resting on a mannequin in one of the tents corners which was the same armor set that was found together with the sarcophagus. The tall human quickly stepped towards it and started putting it on. While he was preoccupied with that, Myriam examined him more closely, noticing that he was taller than most humans are and did seem a little different – more muscular and carried a different feel about him. As she was finished with her observations, curiosity caught her again.

„Who are you?" - She asked once more.

„I suggest you use a more polite tone with me girl" - The human replied.

Myriam flinched after hearing those words, but they did seem to get to her, as she felt obvious superiority coming from Zal'jin's so called „master". He did not seem to be in a hurry, while slowly putting the last parts of the armor, taking the scabbard that was included in the set and hiding his large sword within. After that the "master" took his skeletal helm in his right hand and turned to the troll and the human.

"What is your name dark troll?" - he then asked.

"It be Zal'jin my master" - the troll replied, with his head held low.

"You will show me around these lands Zal'jin. Firstly I need to inspect how much has changed since my imprisonment." - He then ordered and started walking towards the tents exit.

"If you're picking the troll as your guide, he's not the best one out there. I, for example, am much more suited for such a task." - Myriam then said, while looking at the strange human.

After the female spoke out, her target stopped and slowly turned to Myriam. He looked at her for a few moments, stabbing her over and over again with his cold piercing eyes.

"Very well" - he then muttered out.

"Then could you please tell me your name? Since I do not feel the need to address you the same way as my friend here" - Myriam then said, while pointing at the troll.

Again, the human looked at her for a while, with no haste in replying.

"Sitrim" - the human said and left the tent after that.

"I swear, I heard that name somewhere before" - Myriam murmured to herself as she followed Sitrim out of the tent with Zal'jin in front of her.

As the two left the tent, they stopped in surprise, at least Myriam did. The camp was in an uproar as a few of it's inhabitants were lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. It seems Sitrim was having a little fun, with his helm already in it's place on Sitrim's head and his large longsword feasting on the living. As Zal'jin noticed that, he pulled out a few spears with his left arm and took one of them with his right, ready for battle, cautiously watching the surroundings.

"What the heck is he doing? We were supposed to leave the camp quietly!" - Myriam shouted while watching a massacre take place.

"No-one must know of the masters return" - Zal'jin murmured out and threw a spear at an unlucky soul, killing it in an instant.

After fifteen minutes, Sitrim was already done with the camp, without leaving any living soul except for his two companions. He wiped his sword clean and hid it again in his scabbard.

"Lead on then, to the nearest town" - Sitrim then said, while turning to Myriam.

The female looked at Sitrim's face, which was unaffected by the massacre that just took place, calm and without a trace of remorse. She could even see a slight grin on his face, like Sitrim was satisfied with his work here.

"Ok, but first we need to grab a few cloaks, since you stand out too much with that armor of yours." - Myriam then replied and ran into one of the many tents in the camp, walking out of it with three dark cloaks, giving one to each of her companions and leaving the camp soon after with them, with the now abandoned camp behind them, filled with the stench of death.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

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><p><strong>Arrival <strong>

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><p>The three traveled for days without stopping, passing forests and deserts (one desert to be precise). They were about to leave the last encountered forest, before reaching their goal - Graytown, a medium size town, belonging to the Benlor kingdom. (we'll get to that in other chapters). Surprisingly, in all those days of travel the party did not exchange stories or talk at all, except a few short phrases thrown in by Myriam, as she unknowingly spoke her thoughts aloud.<p>

Noticing the three's formation we see Sitrim walking in the middle - being slightly ahead of the rest, with Myriam on his left, who was as always lost in her thoughts and Zal'jin on the right, with his head held low, obediently following his master.

With the three continuing as such, Sitrim was busy looking at a river, which was running right beside the road they were using. But what caught his attention was not the river itself, but the logs that were floating down stream, to the opposite direction then the three were going, and their number seemed to be infinite with one log after another floating for hours without stop. With SItrims gaze preoccupied on such a view, it finally found the source – on the other side of the river, mills were stationed, with lumberjacks swarming around like ants, occupied with the matters of their own little world. Once he observed all that, Sitrim, closed his eyes for a moment and diverted his eyes from such a view, changing his object of observation from the lumber mills, to the road that he was using.

And this is when Myriam, that came back from her thoughts just at the right moment, noticed a slight look of dissatisfaction on Sitrims face. She looked around to find the source of it and soon noticed the lumber mills, deciding that the objects at hand have the highest possibility of being the reason for Sitrims dissatisfaction in her opinion. After finding a new thing to think about, she ventured back into the halls of her mind, and continued onwards lost in thought again.

As they left the forest, their destination revealed itself to them. What stood in front was Graytown – a town surrounded by blackened stone walls with gray smoke coming from behind them. As the three approached the towns' walls, Sitrim noticed activity near the opened main gates with caravans and plenty of travelers going in and out of the town. He slowed down and gazed sharply at the moving figures and seemed hesitant for some reason. Myriam noticed this and quickly realized the reason.

"Do not worry, such activity is normal these days. You should see what's going in in the capitals of each kingdom" – she explained. – "let's just try to mingle with the crowd and not stand out too much"

After the explanation Sitrim hastened his step and joined the movement of travelers, with his two followers at his side, quickly entering the town. As they walked deeper into it, Sitrim was busy looking around, noticing the three to four story buildings on the sides of the road they were using, and the figures that inhabited the town itself. For his surprise he noticed that there were multiple races living here, be it humans, trolls, dwarves or even strange humanoids with green skin and sharp fangs. He then turned to Myriam.

"To what race does this settlement belong? And what are those green humanoids called?" –he asked.

"Well the current landlord of Graytown is a High elf, but the town itself does not belong to one race. The races of Kalimdor intermingled after the defeat of the orc's, who are those green humanoids you speak of. They were summoned from their home planet of Draenor by a magician a hundred years ago, to carry out the Burning Legions bidding and weaken or even take over Azeroth" – Myriam explained – "We'll get into all that some other time. I'll explain the current situation in Kalimdor, but let's go check into an inn and rest for the time being"

"Very well" – Sitrim replied.

The three then went towards the east end of the town, with Myriam leading the two. They walked through narrow passages between the three-story houses, going deeper and deeper into the dark corners of the town, only to reach a rundown two-story inn. The sign on it said "The rotten limb".

"Here we go. Not the most prestigious inn in town, but since the owner owes me a favor, the stay will be free and we will be able to avoid unwelcome attention" – Myriam said and entered the inn, with Sitrim and Zal'jin behind her.

"Fend! Two rooms for me and my friends here" – Myriam shouted after entering the inn.

"Ah, Myriam! Long time-no-see" – a voice replied from the shadows behind the reception table. And soon after, a deformed goblin limped out of the shadow. Just looking at the goblin would give you an awkward feeling as he was all twisted and just plain unpleasant to look at. Even his walking felt awkward. – "There're actually two rooms free, you're in luck. One's on the second floor and the other one is below" – Fend explained, while pointing his fat finger towards the floor (not like he himself was fat.)

"Very well, we'll take them" – Myriam replied and turned to her companions. - "Ok then, I'll take the room on the second floor and you two can stay together in the basement room. Have a nice night" – She then said and went upstairs, leaving the two near the entrance of the inn.

"I be sorry for her insolence my master. If master wishes so, I be teachin' her the proper way to address you" – Zal'jin then whispered to Sitrim.

"No need. Her knowledge of the present state of Kalimdor is still a must. I do not wish to be recognized as of yet" – Sitrim replied and walked towards the staircase, leading to the basement.

Once Sitrim reached the mentioned room, which he did not need to search for, as the basement contained only one living space, he looked around his plain looking new home. It contained only one bed, a chair and a table, but had enough space for ten people to stay in. He then walked towards the bed and lied down, without taking his armor off, and with his sword, still sheathed within the scabbard lying next to hm. Zal'jin on the other hand sat down near the entrance to the room and remained so, half asleep, half on guard.

In the meantime Myriam did not go to sleep, once she reached her room. She quickly dropped her backpack on her bed and started searching its contents.

"Sitrim, Sitrim…I know I heard that name somewhere before" – She murmured to herself while searching – "I think it was…in the times of the second crisis"

She took out book after book from her strangely small bag (how does she fit all that in there?) and after a few more moments of searching she leaned back with a large book, with thick black covers in her hands.

"Ah, I think it's this one!" – Myriam expressed her joy out loud.

She quickly placed the book on the only table in the room and started browsing through the pages of it, quickly turning page after page, with her finger moving through its content, indicating the fearsome speed in which she is able to read. (what fearsome skills indeed) As she reached the middle of the book Myriams finger suddenly stopped. The female human stood there with her gaze fixed on one spot in the book and after a few moments she fell helplessly to a chair that stood right behind her.

"I knew he had something to do with those times…but I never imagined…"- She whispered to herself and got lost in thoughts, with the book left alone on the table, with a sinister truth written in it, that even managed to surprise this bookworm of a human.

And so Myriam remained for the rest of the night. Remaining so on the chair with no movement in sight, deep in her thoughts she was lost, pondering on things of past, present and future.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

><p><strong>The Lecture<strong>

* * *

><p>A band of five humanoids were making way through the lush forest, cutting their way past the plentiful growth with crude axes which seemed to be made out of stone. The humanoids themselves resembled humans, only way too uncivilized. You could say they were almost naked, wearing only rags around their waste for clothes and the rest of the things they had with them were weapons or leather paunches, probably for food supplies. As the five continued through the forest the one leading them suddenly stopped, making the few behind him to stop as well.<p>

"What's the matter?" – one of the primitive humans asked.

"I think I heard something" – the leading human replied.

And as he said those words, a spear flew from the shadows of the forest and thrust itself into the leading humans' chest, killing him in an instant.

"Trolls!" – the human with all the questions yelled and charged into the same direction, from which that death bringing weapon came, with his companions following him.

The remaining four charged forward only to meet a war band of forest trolls, which could be easily understood from the fact that they had green skin (and that everything was happening in the forest). The trolls were armed with spears and axes and replied to the human war cry with the same ferocity and anger in their voice. The troll war band numbered in twelve and it seemed that the humans were desperately outnumbered, but it mattered not. One of the humans, armed with a crudely made wooden shield and an axe charged in first and with one swing spilt a trolls' skull in two, obviously killing his opponent instantly.

The trolls did not react to such brute strength and quickly charged at the first human, aiming to rip him apart. As two trolls quickly approached the human, one of them quickly fell as his neck got pierced by an arrow. The second troll on the other hand made it to his target and swung his two axes at him, only to get blocked by a shield. As the human blocked the trolls attack, he quickly countered with his own axe and thrust its stone edge into the trolls' neck, dispatching the poor troll as fast as the first one.

"Leave some for us Sitrim!" – One of the fighting humans shouted, and finished off a troll, by stabbing him in the neck with a spear.

"It's your own fault for being slow Vryn" – Sitrim replied, as he killed off a third troll, that threatened to attack him with a huge battle axe.

As the fight continued, the troll war band got killed off and the rest escaped in fear of such dreadful foes. The humans then made sure that all the trolls are dead and returned to their dead comrade.

"We should carry Tirrol back to our village. His woman will want to say goodbye properly"- Sitrim said.

His three companions all agreed and took the body with them, while going back the way they came from. As they continued back through the forest, with the usual noises of animals and birds all around, one particular sound was out of place.

"**Sitrim…**"

The mentioned person looked around after hearing his name, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, deciding that it was just the wind (obviously...the wind is always the one at fault).

"**Sitrim…"**

"Did you hear that?"- Sitrim asked.

"Hear what?"- Vryn asked.

"I think someone's calling me"

"Do you think it's the spirits talking to you? – one of the other humans asked.

"You should discuss it with the village shaman" – Vryn then suggested.

"Yeah, I probably should" – Sitrim replied, and the four went back to silence, letting the noise of the forest once again dominate the air, filling it with its "music".

But obviously the voice did not stop. It continued to call the same name, over and over again.

"**Sitrim…**"

"**Power…your destiny awaits you…**"

**"….Sitrim**"

"Sitrim!" – Myriam shouted, and woke the person in question up from his dream –"I knew I heard your name somewhere else before! I just knew it!"- She kept on shouting with excitement in her voice.

Sitrim, completely awake from his dream sat up and looked at the human female, that was standing in the middle of the room, with Zal'jin behind her, his hand ready to take out his curved sword and strike.

"You are the reason for the second catastrophe brought by the Burning Legion, upon Azeroth aren't you? You're Sitrim the Death Lord, or called such in the history books."- She continued, looking at Sitrim with eyes full of expectation.

"Yes"- He then replied, after a few moments of silence, with his eyes sharply looking at the human.

"Fantastic!" – Myriam replied to everyone's surprise – "A lot of human written history books state that you were slain in a battle that decided the fate of Kalimdor not far from the High elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas. But I found one specific book, written in the dragons' language that states that you were in fact imprisoned by Alexstrasza of the red dragonflight with a sealing spell. That specific book helped me to come to the realization of who you really are, simply wonderful!" – She explained.

"Not only did I read the dragons' book, but I also looked up the specific spell used against you, with detailed info on it as the spell has been used many times later by multiple races. It even described the result of the spell and in what kind of object is the victim sealed" - Myriam continued – "The only thing that I could not make sense of is how did they manage to seal you with such a spell, which has such a crucial flaw"

And the last words caught Sitrims attention.

"Flaw?" - he asked.

"Yes, it seems that you can just walk out of the circle of fire while it is still forming with minimal damage. Of course it's made to seem like the fire is extremely hot and impossible to walk through, but I guess that's just a cover"- Myriam explained while waving her hands in excitement over the subject at hand.

But the information given did not seem to make Sitrim happy, on the contrary he seemed quite angry and suddenly stood up after the last words spoken by Myriam. He started walking back and forth from one end of the room to another.

"That Alexstrazsa completely fooled me. To succeed in sealing me with such a simple spell!" – Sitrim shouted, while waving his right arm hastily, but seemed to calm down, while continuing his speech – "I will have to repay her for such an insult, but first I need to know the political situation in Kalimdor and what remains of my kingdom. Explain it to me, mage"

"I had a hunch that you will want that, thus I brought a map for just that reason"- She replied. Myriam then lifted her hand and with a flick of the wrist moved the single table present to the middle of the room. She then approached it and placed the map on its' surface.

"We are currently in the territory belonging to the kingdom of Benlor. Your resting place was found in its southeastern territories, with Graytown being right in the middle" – Myriam explained to Sitrim who approached the table and looked closely at the map, with Zal'jin by his side once more – "Now the major powers of the continent are considered only a few. The high elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas to the northeast, the Night elven domain to the west and the Dwarven kingdom of Ironforge to the southeast. But the kingdom holding the biggest political as well as military power is the Kingdom of Egmir. Oh and I should mention that the orcish clans have recently grown in power, after uniting the native races"- Myriam continued, only to be interrupted by Sitrim.

"To what kingdom do these lands belong?" – He asked, while pointing at the middle of the map, where a large territory was colored grey.

"Oh, those lands belong to no one. Those are the forbidden lands that are sealed off from the continent. Not much is known about them, but they say that they are covered with dark forests, full of dangerous creatures. – She explained and continued with the "lecture", without noticing Sitrims deep interest in the forbidden lands( well that's a rarity) – "Since most of the kingdoms in Kalimdor are of human nature, thus there has been decided, that with the need to avoid war and unite all the races, a High King would be elected from the rulers of each Kingdom. The High King would regulate the diplomatic relations on the continent and would carry the last word in the gathering of rulers that happens once every year. But honestly, the High King is more of a show then a real position, since it simply mirrors which kingdom carries the most power and influence. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that the High King is reelected once every 6 years, but the same king can be reelected a second time. And that sums up the most important parts. Any questions?"- Myriam then asked.

"Yes, how do we get to the forbidden lands?"- Sitrim then asked to Myriams surprise.

"I explained so much to you, and this is what you're interested in? Why do you even want to get there? The place is completely sealed off by the combined efforts of the continent. They build a large wall around that whole territory and guards are always stationed there"- She replied with an irritated tone.

"I have my reasons"- He then replied.

After a few moments of silence, Myriam regained her composure.

"Well the guards let mercenary parties led by a lower nobles in there, so I guess we should find one and sign up"- She explained – "and since we're done here I'll go pack my things, we can leave today"

After saying those words Myriam quickly picked up the map she brought and left the room leaving Sitrim and Zal'jin alone.

"It's time to return to my kingdom"- Sitrim then said in a lowered voice and turned to pick up his sword, which was left on the bed.

"It be long since my people served you my master, but many of us still live in your lands, protecting them even though they long forget the reason"- Zal'jin then said.

"Good. I hope they still bury their dead in the same way"- Sitrim then replied, and with a grin on his face left the room, with Zal'jin right behind him, leaving the quarters empty and silent.

* * *

><p>Those who want to see the speculated map of old kalimdor, with the borders of mentioned and some other kingdoms will find the link in my profile. ( Since somehow I failed to add the link here, oh well)<p>

P.S. There might still be some changes to the map.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

><p><strong>A result of a habit<strong>

* * *

><p>Our three companions were hastily walking through Greytown, with Myriam leading the two. Their haste caught attention of the towns' citizens, but luckily they were wearing hooded cloaks, which should have saved them from it, but had the opposite effect and made 90% of the people they pass look at them.<p>

"So will you be telling me why we're going to the forbidden lands in such haste?"- Myriam asked after slowing her pace and positioning herself next to Sitrim.

The recipient of the question did not seem very willing to answer the question, but after a few moments replied.

"Those lands were once the lands, from which I launched my offensive on the continent. Not only that, but my castle was also built there."- Sitrim slowly spoke, with his sight turned towards the horizon – "It's time to carry out my postponed plans" – He then added while turning his cold eyes at Myriam.

The female mage looked at Sitrims eyes for a while and after getting a strong chill down her spine looked away.

"Very well, we'll go the recruitment office and check If there are any mercenary requests for the forbidden lands"- She then said and was about to add something, but was interrupted by loud voices.

It seems there was a commotion in front of the three companions, near a food stand. Four heavy armored high elves with blood red armor, that had golden writings going in spirals written on it, were the reason for that commotion. They were carrying large shields that were in the same color and interesting looking weapons. The weapons were long swords, with a sword edge coming out of the handle into opposite directions. It seems that the high elves were not satisfied with the food given to them and were expressing their dissatisfaction, which in turn was in the way of our threes journey.

"You call this food?"- One of the high elves shouted –"How dare you give us such filth? Do you want to be imprisoned for insulting the kings' royal guard?

"Those are members of the Crimson Legion, the royal guard of Sin'Lamor, the king of Quel'thalas. Not the friendliest bunch"- Myriam explained, once they reached the commotion.

But Sitrim did not stop to look at the sight, he marched in a straight line, even though the high elves were in the way.

"Move"- He said to the four, once he reached them.

The elves were shocked at such rudeness, but after a few moments regained their composure, the one in charge approached the rude stranger.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"- He asked.

But it did not seem like it mattered to Sitrim, he slowly lifted his arm and placed it on the elves shoulder. Strangely it seemed like SItrim was a whole head taller than the elf.

"**Move**"- he repeated in a chilling voice, which released a strange force all around, making everyone feel quite uncomfortable. The elves instinctively got out of his way, and Sitrim walked past, with Zal'jin and Myriam behind him.

"For a second there I thought that you'll kill them in the middle of the square"- Myriam then said, once they walked further away from the commotion that they themselves now created.

"That was my intention, if they wouldn't have moved"- Sitrim replied reluctantly, and received a long look, filled with dissatisfaction from the female mage.

"Well it's good that they moved then"- Myriam added, after looking away from her target of observation – "We've almost reached the office, wait outside while I investigate. And try to not kill anyone while I'm away"

"You be watchin your tone Myriam" – Zal'jin then interfered, with obvious anger in his voice.

"Ok ok, I understand, wait here"- She then replied and entered the recruitment office, which they luckily reached just in time.

The recruitment office was a medium sized, two-story building with flyers all over the walls, which indicated wanted people and jobs. There were quite a few dangerous looking personas all around, either hanging around or looking at the flyers.

While Sitrim and Zal'jin were waiting for Myriam, a group of shady figures approached them. They numbered in four, with a goblin in front, following two humans and an angry looking ogre(all ogres look angry. Yes I'm racist) behind them.

The goblin stepped forward towards the two.

"Haven't seen you around here before. You looking for work?"- He asked, but didn't get a reply – "Not the talkative type huh? Well if you're looking for work here, you have to pay a fee. Or I'll have to introduce you to my big friend back there"- he explained with a grin on his face, while pointing backwards at the ogre.

The ogre made a growling sound and stomped his foot on the ground, with the intention to scare our two companions. But all that did not seem to work, as neither Sitrim nor Zal'jin reacted to such talk, which made the goblin quite unpleased.

"Hey, did you hear me you trash?" – The goblin then said and was about to pull on Sitrims cloak, but was stopped by Zal'jins kick, which sent the small goblin flying back to his friends.

Obviously the unwelcoming group did not just stand and watch as their goblin friend coughed up blood beneath their feet.

"You'll pay for this!" – One of the humans shouted and charged at Zal'jin with two short-swords drawn and his companions' right behind him.

It seemed like a bloody fight was about to erupt, but the three attackers froze the second it began as the first human fell to the ground unconscious and surprisingly – without an arm. Blood started spilling out the wound and it looked like the poor guy will drown in it. As for his two companions – neither the remaining human nor the ogre could move a single step as they were watching in horror at Sitrim who was standing in front of them, with his large sword drawn. It seemed like a dark, paralyzing force was swirling around him, keeping the two from moving. But as soon as they realized that, the dreadful aura disappeared and Sitrim sheathed his sword, turned around and walked towards the recruitment offices' entrance, with Zal'jin remaining behind for a while longer, checking if the two try anything stupid.

The human and the ogre quickly realized their situation and picked up their unconscious comrade, with their tail between their legs they walked away, together with the goblin leader, who was still having a hard time breathing. Zal'jin then picked up the arm they left and threw it to the three thugs.

"You be forgettin somethin'"- he said and turned around to follow his master, who has already entered the office.

Once the troll entered, he found Myriam arguing with Sitrim (which was totally one-sided).

"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have left you out there. The world already reached the office, that some strangers took care of a gang outside. I told you not to kill anyone!" – She shouted.

"The human did not die by my hand" – Sitrim replied.

"What do you mean he did not die by your hand? You cut off his arm god damn it!"- Myriam continued.

"He died from blood loss"- Sitrim then replied, leaving Myriam speechless. And after a few moments she hit her forehead with her palm and was about to turn away, only to be interrupted by an unexpected "guest" in their conversation.

"I couldn't help myself from overhearing your dialogue"- A nigh elf with light silver chainmail said, while approaching the two, with Zal'jin a few steps away. –"Hello there, my name is Ildrin and I'm in charge of a mercenary caravan to the forbidden lands. It seems you are the ones' who took care of Drizzles gang"- he said, while looking at Sitrim and Zal'jin. – "I could use such strong men, would you be interested in joining me?"

"What's the pay?"- Myriam quickly replied.

"2000 gold coins for everything. You get 500 up front and the rest once we get back." – He explained.

"Ok then, we have a deal"- She then said and extended her hand, only to remain in the air without a reply.

"I don't remember inviting you?"- Ildrin then said, while coldly looking at our female mage.

"I'm a mage and as far as I know, there's a lack of them among mercenaries. I think I'll be of much use"- Myriam explained, while still keeping her arm extended, and receiving company this time, as Ildrin shook it.

"Very well, you made your point. We leave in 3 hours, be at the west gate"- He then said and turned towards the entrance – "See you until then".

"Damn homosexual nigh elves"- Myriam then murmured and turned to her companions. – "We got lucky, since I did not manage to get a job on my own. It seems your habit of killing people turned out for the better this time – she then said while looking at Sitrim.

"I do not have a habit of killing people. They just die too easily"- He replied and left the office with Zal'jin behind him.

Meanwhile at the royal quarters of Graytown.

We find ourselves in the throne room, with (obviously) the landlords' throne being at the end of it, and a tall and quite stuck up looking High elf sitting in it. As he was being taken care off by three lovely ladies of various races, the doors to the chamber at hand was suddenly opened and a figure barged in, wearing simply fabulous clothes followed by four high elf soldiers in blood red armor. The figures walked to the front of the throne and stopped, kneeling in front of the landlord.

"My lord, I regrettably bring you these soldiers to be punished, for disgracing the Crimson Legion in public"- the fabulous figure spoke – "It seems they were pushed around by some stranger, after causing a scene in front of the commoners"

The landlord did not seem to be pleased with the words he just heard. He quickly waved his hand and the ladies keeping him company scattered to the sides. He then stood up from the throne and slowly walked towards the soldiers in question.

"What will the culprits say in defense? "- He then asked.

"The human who humiliated us was not normal. It was as if we had no choice but to listen to him" – One of the soldiers replied.

The lord slowly walked past the soldiers after hearing those words and seemed to be lost in thoughts. But after a few moments he simply stopped.

"You humiliate the royal High Elf legion to this extent and that's all you have to say in your defense?"- He then replied, in a trembling voice.

And before the soldier could even say anything in reply, he was lit on fire and burned to ashes in a matter of seconds. His comrades received the same treatment moments later, after given enough time to realize the horror that awaits them. After finishing them off the landlord turned towards his seat of power, and sat down again.

"Clean up this mess. I will not have such filth in the Crimson Legion. Especially now, when my plans are about to be carried out"- he said – "Send a message to Silvermoon, I need a confirmation of the kings support in the upcoming events"

"The remaining figure of the five that entered the room nodded his head in reply and after standing up quickly left the chambers, leaving the pile of ash to be taken care of by the servants who quickly swarmed the new-made mess.

After the "guest" left, the king waved his hand again and the ladies that previously scattered to the sides quickly ran to him with a goblet and wine. After handing it to the High Elf, full of wine, they scattered to the sides again, with only one remaining by his feet. The landlord slowly drank from the goblet while looking at it intensely, while slowly spinning it in his hand.

"Yes"- He whispered to himself"- things will be changing soon"


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

><p><strong>New and old encounters<strong>

* * *

><p>3 hours have already passed and our three companions reached the western gate of Graytown. There they met the rest of the mercenaries numbering in twenty, with various races amongst them. There were elves, humans, orcs a dwarf and surprisingly – another dark troll, who kept a distance from the rest. When the three joined up with the group, the dark troll in question noticed Zal'jin and glimpsed at Sitrim, instinctively feeling some kind of a respectful fear towards him. Obviously, the dark troll did not slip from Zal'jin sight as well.<p>

"The troll be from the forbidden tribe, in your lands master"- He whispered to Sitrim – "This trip be endin' in an unpleasant way"

"Good. The sooner I come in contact with your people, the better"- Sitrim then replied and sat down a few meters away from the mercenary group, with Zal'jin and Myriam right next to him.

"What do you mean the expedition will end in an unpleasant way?" – The female mage then asked quietly.

"I be knowing of the way my people work. He be leading us to an ambush in the forbidden lands"- Sitrims minion replied.

"And you're ok with that?" – Myriam then asked Sitrim.

"Yes"- He replied with an expressionless face.

After hearing that, the mage leaned back and sighted heavily.

"You two will be the death of me"- she whispered.

As the mercenaries were waiting for the order to move out, a dwarf walked from the bunch of them and continued towards our three. He had a threatening looking gun comfortably placed on his shoulder which seemed to have all kinds of strange modifications on it, which we will have to avoid getting into. Obviously that wasn't the only gun he had on himself. He also had two smaller pistols under his belt, as well as a one handed axe and who knows what else hidden. He did not seem to be heavy armored, as everything was covered in a dark greenish cloth, with even his head hidden in its' cloak with only his light brown beard visible (and it seriously needed to be shortened).

Once he approached the three he removed the cloak to reveal a rugged looking dwarf, with a nose that covered too much space on his face. He was wearing strange looking goggles which are way too complicated looking to describe. He looked at the three and stopped at Sitrim.

"Haven't seen you around here before. Ever"- He then said – "But somehow it feels that you're the most useful of everyone present. Mind if I join you lot?"

Sitrim looked at the dwarf for a while, obviously paying more attention to the dwarfs' gear then the person himself.

"Very well"- He said, with a voice that told nothing of the emotions hidden beneath that expressionless mask of his.

"Fantastic"- the dwarf then replied and sat down in front of the three –"I'm Damgarl**, **nice to meet you"

"I'm Myriam, this is Zal'jin and this is… "- Myriam then introduced, but stopped for a few moments on Sitrim and after a glance towards his direction continued – "Sitrim"

"And what brings you on this dangerous journey? Did the gold lure you here?"- Damgarl continued.

"Destiny"- Sitrim quickly replied while looking the dwarf straight in the eyes.

The two sat like that for a few moments, staring at each other. But it seemed like the dwarf couldn't take it and leaned back a bit.

"Damn! Your stare could kill a person you know that?" – He said while laughing out loud – "I like you lot. Me personally – I came here for the adventure. For the thrill, you know? Can't live without a daily dose of danger. Hoping to find some pray worth hunting in there and I bet there's plenty to spare, so I'll share some with you guys."- The dwarf explained, while smoothly stroking his gun( this part might be miss-interpreted).

And that's when the ...now four noticed a commotion from the direction all the mercenaries were stationed. It seemed like Ildrin finally arrived with a few carriages and was about to explain things. But before he began he ordered the dark troll to come over to him.

"Now, everything is simple. I'll pay every one of you 300 gold coins up front and the rest once we return. Once you get payed, we immediately leave with the carriages behind me. Once we enter the forbidden lands, this guy right here shall lead us" – Ildrin explained, and once mentioning the troll, placed his arm on the his shoulder"- He has been there before, thus you can trust his guidance. Now come here and receive the pay" – he finished and walked towards one of the carriages.

Once everyone received their pay, the mercenary expedition force moved out, with our four characters staying on the last carriage together with two other guys.

"The trip is gonna be long, so might as well catch some shut-eye"- The dwarf said and laid back against the transports' wall with the rest following his example and Sitrim, already ahead - visiting the land of dreams.

Sitrim got up from his bed out of fur that was made in the middle of the snowy forest. He held his breath and looked around only to hear complete nothingness. The forest was asleep and the only sound he could hear was the sound of wind blowing and branches moving.

"What are you looking for?"- A voice behind him spoke.

Those words startled Sitrim and he jumped forward, quickly turning around to the direction of the voice. What he saw in that direction was a strange figure. He looked like a human, but somehow the face just could not be seen clearly.

"Who are you?"- Sitrim asked, while slowly backing away to a safe distance.

"Why are you afraid? Is there anything in this world that could do permanent harm to you?"- The figure then asked.

"I asked who are you?- Sitrim shouted, repeating his previous question, while clutching his axe, which was hanging from the belt.

"A friend"- The figure replied in a calm tone, which strangely gave away the fact, that he was superior in this conversation.

"What do you want from me?"

"The question is: What do YOU want?"- The so called "friend" asked, while stepping a few steps closer to the recipient.

The reply caught Sitrim by surprise and it seemed like he was lost in thought, since he actually loosened the grip on his axe and managed to miss something. Slowly, step by step the figure got closer to him, using the opportunity of Sitrims confusion.

"I…don't know. Nothing I guess"- He then replied and looked at his so called friend.

But for his surprise, he was already a step away, looking at him with fiery red eyes in a hardly visible face, even from this distance.

"You know what you want"- The figure said in a strangely …persuasive voice – "You want power. You **need** power. The power to share your "gift" with others. The power to change your surroundings"- it continued.

"Just ask and you shall receive. You need only to extend your arm Sitrim" – He then said and while extending his own.

Sitrim looked at the figures extended arm for a while, lifted his own and looked at it and as he was about to place it in the figures care, he realized, that he was alone. The strange "friend" disappeared and no matter where he looked, Sitrim could only see the lonely darkness, covering the frozen forest. After that he quickly regained his composure and packed his stuff, stuffing everything into a large leather bag and walking away with it, into the depths of the forest. He continued so for an hour until he come upon an opening in the forest and stopped in surprise. What he saw was quite...unusual to say the least.

He was looking at a forest opening with a pond in the middle of it. What was interesting that there was no snow in it, on the contrary, there was green grass growing and flowers blooming. As he looked around he noticed a figure standing near the pond. It was a female of astonishing beauty. She had light brown skin, and seemed to show plenty of skin, with clothes covering only the crucial parts. And what seemed to be strange…is that she had horns.

Slowly Sitrim approached the standing female and it seemed like she didn't even notice him. This continued until he was a step away from her. And that is when she turned to him, with her bright yellow eyes looking straight at Sitrim.

"I've been waiting for you"- She then said.

"Who are you?" – Sitrim asked then, while carefully stepping a step back.

"My name is Alexstrasza. And you are Sitrim, correct?"- She asked, and received a nod – "I've been watching you for a while. A strange entity you are indeed, human and yet…not at the same time. For hundreds of years you wander these forests, staying with different tribes of your own kind and after a while leaving to find another" – she continued and stepped closer towards her target of interest, slowly lifting her hand and touching his face – "Has it been hard for you? Being the only of your kind unchanging, watching the ones you care for die, be it from old age or wounds?"

After hearing those words Sitrims eyes lit on fire and he quickly removed the hand on his face, stepping back from this strange female.

"How do you know about me?"- He then carefully asked.

Alexstrasza laughed at the cautious human for a moment and then sat down, facing the pond.

"You need not fear me. I'm a friend who shares a similar fate. Come, sit down"- She then said, while tapping the ground next to her, inviting SItrim to sit down.

After a few moments of hesitation SItrim finally moved and listened to the females' suggestion – sitting down at the given location.

"Do you hate this gift you were born with?"- Alexstrasza then asked.

"Gift? More like a curse. I grow tired of living. I grow tired of the loneliness that comes with my immortality"- Sitrim replied.

The female moved closer to Sitrim and hugged him.

"This is not a curse Sitrim, it's a gift. A gift that nature has blessed you with. You have been given the opportunity and the responsibility to watch over the world and the races inhabiting it. And if you choose so, even lend a guiding hand, helping them continue towards a brighter future. Do not hate it. Embrace it."- She explained.

The words struck Sitrim deeply and he remained so, embraced by his sister in fate, lost in deep thought. But after a few moments he escaped from the females arms, facing her with a serious face.

"I have never looked at it this way. I always thought that I was cursed for something, to forever be alone and unchanging. This given perspective is new to me"- he explained – "And I'm guessing you'll also warn me that I must not abuse this gift for evil purposes, right?"- He then asked with a smile on his face.

"Indeed I was about to"- She replied, while laughing – "It's been a while since somebody made me laugh, I'm glad we met. You won't be lonely anymore" – Alexstrasza then added and kissed Sitrims cheek.

And this is when Sitrim awoke from the commotion outside the carriage.

"It seems we've reached the great wall"- Myriam said to him – "We will probably continue to the forbidden lands on foot"

After saying those words everyone got out of their transport, with Sitrim being the last one.

"At last"- He whispered as he was getting out.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

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><p><strong>The truth of past<strong>

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><p>The great wall was a magnificent sight indeed. As Sitrim got out of the temporary transport, he could only join the others in looking at the gruesome height of the structure, with its' edges reaching to the skies. The wall itself looked quite old - made from bricks the size of two humans and all kind of growth seeping through the cracks in it. Once Sitrim noticed all that he grinned and diverted his attention to other matters.<p>

It seemed like Myriam was right, as the transportation they were riding until now was being taken by the guards stationed near the huge gate, that led into the forbidden lands. Slowly, all the mercenaries gathered in front of the gate, with Ildrin at the front. He seemed to be talking to a guard intensely, while flapping a piece of paper in front of his nose.

"They better move it. Rebecca is getting impatient"- Damgarl murmured, while tightly holding his gun with both hands.

"You named your gun?" – Myriam then asked, with one of her eyebrows slightly lifted.

"Of course. There are two most important things in life for me – my gun Rebecca and any existing alcoholic beverage"- The dwarf then explained.

Myriam looked at the dwarf like she was doubting his healthy mental state and was about to add something, but it seemed like Ildrin finished his talk with the guard and the main gates slowly opened, letting the mercenary company move in.

What awaited them inside was something astonishing. Once the doors opened it looked like a completely different world was behind them. What awaited behind the doors was a forest, with trees almost reaching the tip of the great wall and growing besides its solid exterior. The forest looked dark and untouched by man. You couldn't see anything further than five meters in that thick natures' fortress.

Once the mercenaries entered the forest, the gates closed behind them, cutting them off from the outside world. As that took place, Ildrin let the dark troll lead the way.

"Watch yourselves, they say that if you lower your guard, the darkness snatches you away in a flash"- Ildrin shouted, so that everyone could hear, while following the troll.

"Now this I like. Almost feels like home"- Damgarl murmured after taking a good look around.

"What do you mean? What use is your gun if you won't see your targets"- Myriam then asked.

"Oh, so you think these goggles are only for show little missy?"- The dwarf replied, while tapping on them with his finger – "They help me see in the dark. A little present I picked up from a gnome engineer in Demdur"

"There are such skilled engineers in that hell hole? As far as I heard it's the most hated and feared place in the whole underground Dwarven kingdom"- Myriam said with surprise in her voice.

"The mad genius types like places like that"- The dwarf then said and started playing with the goggles, turning and pushing different parts until he was satisfied- "There we go, time for the hunt to begin"

The expedition ventured deep into the forbidden lands, with torches in their hands they traveled for a whole day, without meeting any strange creatures heard about from gossips, nor anything for that matter. It was like the forest was sleeping, with only a light echo, made by unknown sources, making its' way over the heads of our "adventurers".

"Ok then! We make camp here!" – Ildrin suddenly shouted and made the whole lot of his employees stop.

Everyone quickly gathered some firewood and started camp fires, chopping some trees for back-up fuel. As the expedition traveled the whole day, they were tired, thus a lot fell asleep as soon as they lied down, with handpicked people on guard duty, watching the darkness around them, searching for any movement.

As our four "friends" sat down in a circle, Myriam quickly released a ball of fire from her right palm, which floated to the middle of the circle and remained in air, spreading warmth and light around, but surprisingly – avoiding the ground and leaving the leaves unharmed by its fiery touch.

Sitrim seemed to be pleased with such a simple thing, but avoided giving any indication of such to the female mage. But obviously, she needed not, since even without it, Myriam noticed a faint smile on his face, which told her more than words could.

Calmed by the warmth and the pleasant light, everyone seemed to find something to do – Myriam was reading a book she took out from her small, but surprisingly resourceful bag, Zal'jin was sharpening his sword and Damgarl was taking care of his beloved Rebecca. As Sitrim watched this soothing sight he unknowingly drifted off into an unwelcome vision….

The night was disturbed by bright light coming from the wild fires that were harassing a forest in the valley. And two figures were observing such a view from a steep cliff. They were a human male and a female that could not be distinguished as a part of any known race, but had a close resemblance to a human, if not for those horns. The male was wearing heavy leather and a large handle of what seemed like a sword could be seen above his shoulder, while the female was wearing...well not much actually. But she looked damn good.

As you probably have already guessed, those two figures were Sitrim and Alexstrasza. The two of them watched as the fires quickly swallowed the forest, step by step, covering it in its fiery clutches, with sadness in their eyes they stood there silently, until one of them broke that pressuring silence.

"It seems the humans got tired of fighting the trolls in the forest"- Alexstrasza spoke out in a low, sad voice.

Strangely, Sitrim did not reply to the observation for a few moments and started walking towards the cliffs edge.

"We need to put out the fire"- He then said and jumped down, leaving Alexstrasza alone on the cliff.

She was hesitant of her involvement in a minor conflict of the mortal races, but after a few moments made a decision. Her eyes lit up in bright red and Alexstraszas body was engulfed in strong fires. The females' body then started growing and changing shape rapidly and after what seemed like a few moments – turned into a mighty red dragon, who could barely fit on that cliff. She then flapped her wings and dived towards the valley, soaring over the fierce fires, covered by the smoke they made.

As for Sitrim- he quickly ran towards the spreading catastrophe and grabbed the large handle, mentioned before, taking out a large sword for whatever reason. But after that he stopped to notice dark figures running around in front of the fiery wall. As he looked closer he saw that the figures were trolls – dark trolls to be precise. They were busy cutting down trees and digging trenches, trying to stop the fire even at the cost of their lives – which seemed very real as some of the trolls were burned alive, while trying to complete their treacherous objective.

As Sitrim observed such dedication, he quickly ran towards the incomplete trench and with a quick and powerful swing of the sword - cracked the ground open, creating a short, but effective trench to stop the fires. As the trolls saw that, they then quickly reorganized and most of them concentrated on cutting down the trees, leaving Sitrim the job of finishing the trench, which he continued in doing. But as fast as he tried, the deed seemed way too hard to do in time, as the fires were spreading at a tremendous speed and Sitrim was about to lose hope of saving at least half of the forest.

But luckily Alextrasza swooped in quickly and with a strong wave of her wings created gushes of wind, which were strong enough to put out a portion of the fires. After seeing that Sitrim continued with his part of the job and with the combined forces of the three (counting all the trolls as a single entity) the fires were finally calmed and put out, after an hour of hard work.

The vision became blurry after that and after a while we see our two main characters ( for the moment) at the same place they first met – in a valley surrounded by trees, with a pond quietly lurking in the middle of it. It seemed like the two were locked in a heated discussion.

"How can you say that? All life is sacred!"- Alextrasza shouted at Sitrim.

"Is it? Are the lives of these humans, elves or any other race for that matter truly sacred? They disregard any other life except their own, heightening themselves above all, treating everyone around them like some kind of stepping stone for their survival, or an inferior existence!"- Sitrim replied with a heightened voice and something similar to anger reflecting on his face.

"In truth the dark trolls are the true wardens of the forest, putting the existence of their surroundings first and their own - second. Even the night elves you so adore are selfish in comparison. They would rather save themselves first, then their surroundings! Not only that, but they exploit nature for power and use it for their own personal gain!"- He continued.

Alextrasza was at a loss for words, as she looked at this new Sitrim. But strangely she felt a certain pull towards this man, with his strong beliefs and a strange power coming from within. After quickly realizing all that, she felt torn, by such feelings and her thoughts on Sitrims opinion.

"Not only that, but have you ever looked closely at the night elves forests? They are all serene and purged of all things dangerous to them. They manipulate their surroundings to their own advantage. And what of the dark trolls? They let nature shape itself and only protect it, leaving their surroundings as they are, with all the dangers it holds within – letting it prosper"- Sitrim said, lowering his tone at the end. He then turned away from Alextrasza and walked a few steps closer to the pond, gazing at its mirroring surface.

"But in turn the dark trolls have never prospered. They sacrifice their own well-being for nature and all the beauty it holds. Not one kingdom has been created by them and they have never really prospered. They fought everyone who threatened their object of unyielding commitment and thus faced theoretical extinction in the face of all the other mortal races"- Sitrim then explained with a sad voice.

"And that is why they alone deserve my respect for being the only ones capable of co-existing with their surroundings, without damaging them"- he finished with a sad tone.

After Sitrim finished his long speech, Alextrasza walked towards him and put her arms around her male companion, hugging Sitrim from behind, with her head lying on his shoulder. Sitrim then replied to this gesture of kindness and placed his hands on hers, tilting his head until it touched Alextraszas'.

And so they remained, silent and still surrounded by the forest that kept them hidden from unwelcome eyes.

Obviously this is when Sitrim was awoken from his vision, by screams coming out of the temporary camp. He and his companions all turned to see what the commotion was all about only to see a large group of the mercenaries bunched together around someone. As the four approached they heard what the group was talking about.

"What the heck? What do you mean you were attacked? By who?"- One of the mercenaries shouted.

It seemed like a small party that was sent out to gather firewood was attacked by an unknown enemy and only one managed to return safely. The person in question was all covered in scrapes and it seemed like his arm was pierced by an arrow (well that's an obvious observation).

"I don't …know"- the injured survivor replied – "It was like something out of this world, the arrows came from nowhere and all I saw was moving shadows of some king of devils running around in the dark, with their red, bloodthirsty eyes looking at me…I ran as fast as I could.."

"What the fuck? You ate some strange mushrooms there or something? Stop spouting nonsense!"- Another mercenary replied from the crowd and got acknowledgment from the others, as a few were already kicking the poor guy around.

"Enough!"- Ildrin shouted, as he walked past the crowd – "If what you are saying is true, we should get ready before they attack our camp, since you led them right to us!"- He explained, but was too late, as a few shouts and sounds of fighting were heard from the east end of the camp.

The mercenary band quickly reacted and with haste armed themselves and started running towards the direction of the sounds.

"Finally – some action!" – Damgarl expressed and started configuring his goggles, stepping a few steps towards the fighting only to be stopped by Sitrim.

"Do not engage them. We have been observed the whole time and will be spared if we don't do anything. The fate of the camp is already sealed. I suggest you enjoy the spectacle that is about to unfold from a safe distance"- he said while holding the dwarfs shoulder.

"What the heck? How do you know all this? And you think I'll just stand and do nothing? My dwarven blood screams for action damn it!"- Damgarl shouted.

"It is useless. You will not win against them. Even if you manage to survive this fight, you will be the only one left and they'll just tire you out, until you are unable to lift a finger, finishing you off soon after that"- Sitrim then continued, while looking right into the dwarves eyes.

Damgarl looked back at Sitrim for a while and then slowly lowered Rebecca.

"Well when you put it that way…"- he said with a lowered voice.

"Now wait a minute. How do you even know all this? Do you know who is attacking the camp?"- Myriam then joined the conversation.

"It be my people"- Zal'jin replied instead of his master.

"What? But you mentioned that your tribe died off, I wanted to ask you earlier, but somehow it slipped my mind"- She then replied, not convinced by the trolls words.

"They were, while I was outside these lands"- The dark troll then replied, with a smirk.

"Well that's unexpected…"- Myriam then said with nothing else coming to mind.

After the conversation was over, Sitrim walked deeper into the forest with the three behind him, circling around the camp to observe the fighting that was taking place only to witness something almost out of this world…(of warcraft)


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

><p><strong>The return<strong>

* * *

><p>The four moved quickly through the darkness in the forest, getting closer and closer to their destination – the source of all the commotion, cries of battle and pain in the mercenary camp. As Sitrim and his companions reached it, they remained in a safe distance observing a fearsome struggle that might not be for those with weaker nerves.<p>

The mercenaries were holding a perimeter against an unknown force that threw waves of spears and arrows at them but with no visible effect, as only a few were wounded. The mercenaries quickly formed a so called tortoise formation – with shields covering the front and top of their tight formation, successfully absorbing most of the damage. Once organizing a defensive line, the mercenaries started counterattacking with their own arrow barrages and even guns through the holes between the shields. Blindly shooting at the darkness that covered the forest, the effect of such an attack was not visible.

Luckily it seemed like there was a male mage amongst the group (strangely…they were all males! Perhaps the elf has indeed peculiar tastes) who started conjuring fire balls and throwing them at the darkness with the intent to not only kill, but at the same time set the forest on fire - revealing the enemy in hiding with its' bright tongues. But strangely all the fireballs that entered the darkness quickly… disappeared like they were swallowed by some unknown force, without being able to spread even a glimpse of light.

As the two forces clashed for a few moments with no visible change, the attackers slowly weakened with fewer and fewer arrows flying from their direction. This heightened the mercenary groups' spirit and they loosened their formation, with more than a few of them preparing to charge into the forest to finish off the remaining attacking force.

As our four "companions" observed this, they noticed shadowy figures running behind them, passing them in lightning speed. It seemed like the figures were encircling the mercenaries, using the situation to their advantage.

And as soon as the mercenaries couldn't take it anymore with a number of them charging towards the darkness in the forest, it suddenly came alive as numerous shadowy figures jumped out from all sides at the direction of the disorganized defenders.

At tremendous speed the figures launched their offensive and the second they attacked - already a few victims fell to the ground with missing limbs, remaining so with their blood covering the earth, painting it in a dark red color.

What Myriam and Damgarl saw was not mere humanoids but devils reincarnate. Even once they left the safe haven of their forest and entered the camp, it seemed like the darkness followed them, still covering their figures - only dark red eyes clearly visible. But what was already certain was that the figures were indeed – dark trolls. The skill they displayed was astonishing, as they steadily crushed the mercenary forces, quickly jumping from one opponent to the other, not even giving a chance to counterattack. And even if one or two managed to do just that – they missed as if slicing through mist, only to fall to the ground lifeless, without being given the chance to realize what happened.

The previously mentioned mage was also facing problems, as every fireball he launched at those shadowy monsters was somehow swallowed in a whirlpool of darkness, like hitting some kind of an impenetrable wall.

The surprising thing was that the trolls attacked in an extremely organized way, moving in strange and confusing patterns, switching places with each other after each hit and showing a fantastic performance of athletic abilities.

"Now you see the reason for being called the **dark** trolls"- Sitrim explained while everyone watched the battle closing to its' end – "Not only for their dark skin, but for their unmatched ability as night warriors"

The rest did not reply, as there was nothing to say - the view spoke for itself. Only a handful of mercenaries remained, with Ildrin in the middle, shouting his last commands to his bought companions. The four witnessed as one of the trolls masterfully parried a large sword with two one-handed axes, quickly countering by attacking the sword wielders legs and making him fall to his knees, only to lose his head the next second. Similarly gruesome fates awaited the remainder of the mercenaries, with Ildrin remaining last. He let out a desperate shout as he swung his two swords around, only to be slowly swallowed by the darkness around, ripped to shreds by the merciless dark trolls, limbs flying to all sides and blood being spilled like wine in a summer festival.

As the dreadful fight was over, the trolls quickly vanished from once they came dragging all the bodies with them leaving only trails of blood where the camp was once stationed.

"How horrible'" – Myriam said while nervously searching for any survivor, shocked by the speed of the monstrosities that took place a moment ago.

"Darn…Good thing I listened to you. Even I wouldn't have wanted to be part of something like that"- Damgarl added while directing his thanks to Sitrim.

And the silent human was about to reply to the two, but was interrupted by a sudden guest – the dark troll guide, that the four traveled with came out from behind them.

"This be him?"- He asked Zal'jin, while tilting his head towards Sitrims direction.

Zal'jin replied with a nod, and the dark troll quickly turned around after getting an answer, slowly walking back into the depths of the forest he previously left.

"The Chief be waitin' for ya, follow me"- He then added and hastened his pace once the four started following him.

Our companions followed the silent dark troll for a whole day, marching towards an unknown direction through the dark unforgiving forest without rest. As they traveled, everyone noticed that they were being watched by numerous eyes, some of them from above, and some from the sides. The strange thing was that it seemed like a major part of them were different individuals, giving the realization of the sheer number of observers to the four.

"It seems your people are prospering here"- Sitrim revealed his realization to Zal'jin.

"Yes, all thanks to your kingdom master"- The troll replied, while slightly bowing his head.

"Now now, I've been gone for a very long time, there is no need to praise me for something I'm not responsible for"- The "master" then replied with a grin on his face.

"We be here"- The dark guide then intervened, pointing his hand towards a medium sized tent, that was shaped like a pyramid with smoothe edges. The tent was stationed in a small field that was still covered up by the branches of gigantic trees, keeping most of the light from entering.

"Only he can enter"- The troll then added, while pointing at Sitrim, once he noticed that all four were about to step into the tent.

The three remained near the entrance, while Sitrim continued towards the tent. Once he reached the entrance and opened it up, the human noticed that the inside was pitch black - filled with thick darkness that looked almost like a solid wall. Without hesitation he entered, only to find himself in an environment where he could not distinguish anything, nor could he understand how large the space inside was, since the darkness seemed to be endless. He closed his eyes and stood silently so for a while, only to sense a presence in front. Once he did, Sitrim opened his eyes again and glared at the mentioned direction.

After a few moments of looking at nothingness, he suddenly noticed two red lights that seemed like eyes appear. The lights started moving and after getting closer to Sitrim stopped. The next second a faint fire lit up between him and the so called eyes, revealing the inside of the tent. What stood in front of Sitrim was an old dark troll with long gray hair lying on his shoulders. The trolls face was hidden behind a strange and quite ugly mask and he was holding a long staff with skulls hanging from it. The troll leaned closer towards his guest and took a closer look at Sitrims' face.

"So you are the one?"- He then said, with a rough voice, while expressing his thoughts very fluently - "My name is Jan'dri. I am the Chief and witchdoctor of my people in these lands. If you prove to us, that you are indeed the one we must serve, then we shall honor the blood pact that was made ages past"

"Good, it is time to finish what I started. Guide me to my castle and you shall receive the proof you need"- Sitrim replied with an expressionless face.

"Very well, it's not far from here. I shall guide you" – The dark troll chief replied and slowly turned towards the exit.

The two quickly left the tent and Jan'dri continued deeper into the woods in a slow pace, giving Sitrim enough time to exchange information with his companion.

"What took you so long? We were waiting here for almost an hour"- Myriam complained.

"Yeah, you were drinking there or something?"- Damgarl added with a mistrusting glare directed towards Sitrim – "You better have some left if so.."

"Follow me and you shall see the result of my visit"- Sitrim replied, ant turned to follow Jan'dri, who didn't get far.

"It better be a cellar with plenty of alcohol"- Damgarl murmured to himself as he started to follow Sitrim.

The group continued so for at least six hours, traveling through the thick forest again, with no rest or breathers. As time went by, Myriam noticed a slight change of scenery since it seemed like the trees were a lot older here and the forest itself was even thicker, so thick that she even had to light a fire to see where the group was going, since not even a single ray of light made its' way through the branches, even thought it was mid-day.

After a while, the group finally reached an opening, stepping into a lovely valley, with a large glittering lake in the middle. It seemed like the lakes surface absorbed the sun rays, releasing an almost blinding glitter. But neither Jan'dri nor Sitrim stopped to watch that lovely view, as they continued besides the lake, with their destination now visible. In front of them stood a large dome shaped building out of rock. The structure was covered in growth and there did not seem to be an entrance visible, at least it seemed so until Jan'dri reached its' walls. The troll stepped towards it and moved all the growth, revealing a dark passage to the group. This time Sitrim took the lead and entered, with the rest behind him.

Myriam on the other hand hesitated for a while, with her sight fixed on the lake, she seemed to be lost in thought, only to return to the group in time, avoiding being left behind. Once inside, she found stairs going down in a spiral, and walked down them together with the rest. The stairs continued down for some time and it seemed like they walked quite a while, until they finally reached the awaited bottom. Once there, Sitrim continued onwards through a narrow passage, only to reach an opening.

They stepped into a very large round chamber, which was quite bright from the light that was coming through a hole in the ceiling. In the middle of the oval chamber stood a throne, with nothing else worth mentioning around, except strange drawings on the walls, which Myriam instantly started to investigate with the eyes of an expert. She also looked closely at the throne which seemed to be quite simple, yet comfortable. It had a few skull ornaments on it, with a horned beast at the head of the "royal" seat. The identity of the beast was hard to distinguish, since the throne itself seemed to be covered in growth, grass growing even on the seat, which seemed strange.

"Damn, nice place you got here!"- Damgarl noticed – "So where's the alcohol?"- He then added with anticipation and thirst in his eyes.

"Indeed, it seems not much has changed"- Sitrim replied, ignoring the second part of the dwarves' speech, and stepped towards the throne.

Once he reached it, he drew out his sword, placed his helm on one of the thrones arms and sat down, with the sword held by his left hand in front of him, placed with the sharp end on the ground. He then took off his right glove and with a swift move sliced his palm open at the edge of the large blade. Sitrim then squeezed some blood out of the wound and watched it fall on the solid ground beneath his feet, murmuring some strange words to himself that could hardly be heard by the others.

Myriam then realized something - she looked around again and noticed a number of quite small passage-ways in the walls that were covered in darkness, together with the drawings she did not analyze quickly enough. She noticed that the drawings spoke off the dead, being awaken, with an illustration of a tall figure with a crown standing above what seemed like bodies, who were standing in another illustration. She then realized that the tall figure with the crown had a very strong resemblance to the drawing in Sitrims burial chamber. Once that came to be, she turned to Zal'jin.

"What place is this?" – She asked him with narrowed eyes, voice – flattened.

"My masters' castle"- He replied without hesitation, not even giving an eye to Myriam as his sight was fixed on Sitrim.

And that was when Myriam finally understood what he meant by saying "castle". She locked her sight at the small passages we mentioned earlier and with an unpleasant feeling waited for something to happen.

"What the heck is Sitrim doing over there?"- Damgarl asked only to hear a strange sound coming from the sides of the chamber – "What was that? Are they bringing the ale?"- He then added with a desperate tone, while grabbing Rebecca tighter.

"You don't want to know…" – Myriam replied with a trembling voice and watched as Jan'dri with Zal'jin kneeled facing Sitrim, with the sounds of groans and numerous footsteps getting closer to the main chamber by the minute – "So he indeed is…."


End file.
